The present invention, a disk elevator and clamping means, relates to the field of work piece handling devices, and in particular to information disk loading and unloading apparatus. In the prior art, the loading and unloading of disks to and from spindles is well known, e.g., the loading apparatus used in jukebox record players, as well as the large number of home turntable record changer devices. However, in high density digital information storage devices such as magnetic or optical disk drives, the extremely sensitive nature of the information recording surface has generally led to the use of non-removeable disks or the loading of a plurality of disk into the device in a disk-pack unit. However, as the need for devices having more flexible storage capability has increased, devices having the capability of interchanging disks has increased in importance. Two problems need to be specifically addressed when loading high density digital information recording disks. The first involves the accurate and repeatable centering of the disk on the device disk rotation spindle. Because of the extremely high density data storage rate, radial tracking errors, caused by disk misalignment on the spindle, can be severe. Accordingly, it is necessary to precisely and repeatably center the disk on the device.
In the prior art, clamping the disk to the spindle is taught, see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,955, issued to Elliot on July 20, 1982, wherein the disk is simply laid on the platter and then clamped. There has also been teaching wherein centering of the disk on the spindle for rotation is taught, see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,870, issued to Iemenschot on Nov. 11, 1980, wherein a magnetic clamping apparatus is disclosed.
The second problem faced is the need to securely clamp the disk onto the spindle after accurate centering. The above mentioned disclosures fall short of this need in that they do not provide a means for the automatic loading of the disk. The means for accurate centering can inhibit secure clamping and secure clamping can inhibit accurate centering. The present invention addresses this problem in that it provides a means for accurately centering the disk on the spindle prior to clamping and thereafter securely clamping the disk to the spindle for rotation.